Bus driver who ran over passenger's legs, jailed
A Singapore-Johor Express bus ran over a passenger’s legs after she fell while alighting, resulting in her needing to have them both amputated above the knee later.
Gunaselan R. Subramaniam, 45, who was driving the vehicle at the time, was sentenced to three weeks’ jail on March 15.
The Malaysian was disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for two years from his date of release.
He was also prohibited from driving any motor vehicles in Singapore for two years from his release date.
He had been convicted on March 8 of causing grievous hurt to Ms Tuminah Sapie, who was 74 when the accident occurred, by driving the bus in a negligent manner.
Gunaselan was driving the vehicle on June 24, 2019, when it stopped at a Woodlands Checkpoint departure concourse at around 10.45am for passengers to get off.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ariel Tan told the court that Gunaselan had failed to perform checks while Ms Tuminah was alighting from the bus as he was talking on his mobile phone.
Another passenger that day had also testified in court that she had heard him talking on the device while passengers were stepping out of the vehicle.
Ms Tuminah, who was the last passenger exiting the bus, told District Judge Cheng Yuxi that she was standing on the steps near the rear exit of the vehicle when she felt it moving again.
DPP Tan said: “She then testified that she could not control her body when the bus moved suddenly, which resulted in her falling out of the bus.
“Thereafter, when she was on the ground, she felt her legs being run over by the bus tyre.”
She was rushed to hospital where she was found with injuries including a right lower limb mangled extremity and multiple fractures.
She also had degloving injuries to her right groin and left lower limb. A body part is said to be degloved when top layers of skin and tissue are ripped from the underlying muscle or bone.
“The injuries that she suffered resulted in bilateral above knee amputations, which constitutes grievous hurt,” said the prosecutor.
Gunaselan had admitted in earlier proceedings that he felt his bus “going up a hump” after he closed the doors and drove off a short distance.
This was consistent with Ms Tuminah’s evidence that she felt her legs being run over by the rear tyre of the bust, said the DPP.
The prosecutor added: “A reasonable person would have driven off only after ensuring that all passengers had already alighted safely from his bus at least by checking his viewing screen and all the mirrors.
“We submit that the accused fell short of the requisite standard of care as he failed to conduct the necessary checks before driving off. If he had, he would have observed that Ms Tuminah was still alighting from his bus.”
Represented by lawyer A. Revi Shanker, Gunaselan argued during the trial that he had not acted in a negligent manner and could not have endangered Ms Tuminah’s safety.
Gunaselan also said that he had checked items including the vehicle’s left mirror before driving off but did not see her.
For causing grievous hurt to another person by performing a negligent act, an offender can be jailed for up to two years and fined up to $5,000.
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